Park service says line through
battlefield would cause great harm
BY SETH MANDEL
Staff Writer
It could become the battle over the battlefield.Monmouth County and the U.S. National Park Service (USNPS) officials have begun discussions on the preservation of history in the face of proposed passenger rail service through a historic battlefield.
Kristen Stevens, the grant manager for the USNPS American Battlefield Protection Program, recently wrote a letter addressed to Monmouth County freeholders and NJ Transit officials outlining her concerns for the proposed passenger rail service, known as the Monmouth-Ocean-Middlesex line, or MOM line.
That line, also referred to as the Lakehurst to Monmouth Junction line, would run on existing tracks that bisect Monmouth Battlefield State Park in Manalapan.
The rails do not currently transport commuter trains, and are of limited use.
Stevens said that 40 commuter trains a day when the MOM line is in service would be a far cry from the almost unnoticeable current use of the rails, and would cause “irreparable harm to the historic landscape and damage a National Historic Landmark.”
The park, she said, is currently on the National Register of Historic Places, as well as having achieved National Historic Landmark status. It is one of only three Revolutionary War battlefields in New Jersey that can boast such a résumé.
In addition, the park is rated a Priority I, Class “A” Revolutionary War battlefield.
According to a draft report, Priority I status is reserved for only the most historically significant and most endangered sites, which “require immediate preservation action before they are destroyed or damaged.”
Its Class “A” significance qualifies it as the “site of a military or naval action with a vital objective or result that shaped the strategy, direction, outcome or perception of the war.”
“When it comes to telling the story of the Revolutionary War, the Monmouth State Battlefield is the premier flagship; there are very few places in New Jersey that tell that story any better,” Stevens said. “It’s sort of like comparing a collection of books and the Library of Congress.”
Stevens said the anachronistic nature of commuter trains on a Revolutionary War battlefield risks the credibility of such a reputable, if complicated, site.
“If you have trains that are running there more frequently than once an hour, every group who comes to visit will have that intrusion thrust upon them while they’re trying to understand something that is already very difficult and remote in history to understand,” Stevens said.
She said the level of noise, safety issues and the presence of the trains and stations themselves would be an overbearing and unwelcome invasion.
In a written response, Monmouth County Freeholder Director Thomas J. Powers said the county freeholders treasure such sites, but commuter rail service would not damage the integrity of the battlefield.
Powers wrote that since the tracks already exist, and would not need to be expanded, no new bisection of the park would be necessary.
He said that not only did the rails bisect the park when the original line was developed in the 1960s, when the line provided regular passenger service, but historic maps indicate that the road existed during the Battle of Monmouth itself.
Stevens said that a train station would have to be constructed at each end of the park, and could not possibly be camouflaged from view.
“At this point, I think there’s just about no place on the battlefield where you wouldn’t be able to see one of the two of them,” she said.
Powers wrote that only one train station would be constructed at the site, not two as Stevens had suggested, and it would be surrounded by existing industrial buildings, not exceeding them in height, and would be screened from the park by surrounding woods.
“It would, in fact, be in the vicinity of the former Tennent Station and would provide a wonderful opportunity for historic interpretation of the important agricultural rail line, and the rich history of the Tennent settlement area,” Powers wrote. “It is our intention that the railroad and the park continue to coexist.”
Powers referenced two traffic studies — the Western Monmouth Study and an intersection study for Tennent Road and County Road 522 — that pointed to the “unchecked” growth of heavy traffic in the area.
“This poses a more significant impact on the character of the park then the existing rail line, and additional train service would help to alleviate some of the future car trips,” Powers said.
In March, NJ Transit officials revealed the findings of its Draft Environmental Impact Statement, which was conducted by Systra Consulting, of Bloomfield.
The study examined three possible alternatives for the renewed rail service: the Lakehurst to Monmouth Junction line, which would bisect the park, a Lakehurst to Matawan line and a Lakehurst to Red Bank line.
The results of the study brought the Matawan line to the forefront of the discussion, while the Red Bank line remains on the back burner.
The Matawan line, according to the study, had a capital cost estimate of $730 million, operating costs estimated at $45 million, and a daily ridership of 10,900.
For the Monmouth Junction line, the capital cost estimate was $860 million, with operating costs estimated at $49 million and a daily ridership of 9,000.
For the Red Bank route, the capital cost estimate was $600 million, with operating costs at $42 million, but a ridership of only 7,900.
Monmouth County Planning Board officials recently released ridership estimates of 40,666 for the Monmouth Junction line, 22,180 for Matawan, and 12,024 for Red Bank.
Stevens said none of that ridership should go through Monmouth Battlefield State Park.
She said the park is often the location of Revolutionary War re-enactments, and, on some weekends, hosts thousands of people — many of whom seek education and awareness, and some of whom are there simply to pick apples in the park’s apple orchard.
“Every one of them would be affected,” Stevens said. That impact, she said, would be negative.
According to Powers, every one of them would be affected positively, for two reasons: the rail service would alleviate some of the traffic congestion caused by park events such as re-enactments, and would also serve to enable seniors, teenagers, people with disabilities and any others who are transit-dependent to visit the park.
Amy Handlin, the deputy director of the Monmouth County freeholders, said the freeholders share Stevens’ concerns about the need to protect the park and the surrounding area.
She said residents of the area are “crying out for relief from traffic congestion,” which, she said, poses a serious threat to the park.
The solution, Handlin said, would be the proposed renewal of passenger rail service.
“We believe strongly that relieving traffic congestion will not only improve quality of life throughout Western Monmouth County, but will also enhance the accessibility of the park and provide opportunities for more citizens to visit, thanks to the convenience of passenger rail service,” Handlin said.
Stevens said that a park of such historical significance must be “jealously guarded of every intrusion.”
“And frankly, in such a pristine condition, it’s really easy to sort of abuse it and forget what a very special place it is,” Stevens said.
She said that any more leniency in area development, such as rail service, would not only compromise the very reason the park exists and the efforts to restore it, but would begin a journey down a slippery slope of disenchantment and disregard for the landmark.
“And we have, in the past, given grants to the state of New Jersey in order to protect Monmouth Battlefield,” Stevens said. “And we would certainly want to make sure that the officials there recognize that we’ve had a long-standing financial stake in Monmouth already, and we would certainly want to point out to them that our relationship with the state of New Jersey, and Monmouth, is something we eagerly want to continue.”
Powers said that recent grants from the American Battlefield Protection Program to Princeton Battlefield State Park are evidence of the fact that, despite the presence of the Princeton Pike on its grounds and the flurry of development just beyond its borders, its historic merit is still intact.
He said Monmouth County planning officials, park system staff and a local historian have all assured him that the historic and cultural value of Monmouth Battlefield State Park will not only remain, but will advance if passenger rail service is restored to Monmouth Junction.
“The freeholders of Monmouth and Ocean counties have long been supportive of the Monmouth Junction alternative for the MOM rail line and see it as a win-win situation,” Powers said. “We value our present and future, and work tirelessly to ensure that our county will remain among the top 10 places to live in the United States.”
Powers added that the rail service would be a solution to quality-of-life issues facing county residents, such as traffic congestion, the need for transit opportunities to get residents to their jobs, schools and recreation destinations, and striking a balance between preserving the county’s storied past and providing for an equally impressive future.
“Maintaining the function of the historic Freehold-to-Jamesburg agricultural rail line can be good for antiquity as well as for the future,” Powers wrote.
For now, Stevens stopped short of taking any official action to stop the rail service other than putting the issue in the hands of the public by doubling efforts to raise awareness on the park and its relationship to the rail line.
“And trying to come at it from a different level, when people really realize that there’s no other spot on the planet like this one,” she said. “There may be other spots for other kinds of developments elsewhere, but for Monmouth, there’s no other spot like what they’ve got.”
Stevens said there exists an extensive framework of public dialogue on the matter — an opportunity to make sure the issues at hand are analyzed, carefully weighed and ultimately understood.
“And when you really understand what’s at stake, you’d be surprised how people are willing to work toward that goal of preserving and protecting really a very important patriotic spot,” she said.